I went to a big toy store looking for a magnetic chess set. I asked a staff member about it and she said it would be in the boys' toys section.

Stunning! Toys and games are often grouped together in stores. And there are usually separate sections for "dolls" and "action figures." But Board Games?! Time warp again ... and, by the way, that story gives a pretty big hint about the answer to this forum's question. Check out "the problem that has no name" in Friedan's The Feminine Mystique.

We "girls" have many powers. Some are not visible to the casual observer. But we have them. And we all know we have them. Oh, yes. And that almost makes up for our having so much less economic and political power. Almost. :-)

Oh, you guys!-- you've got me laughing out Loud! Are you kidding? -- women won't "blend with guys" and will "spoil the atmoshere" and are "distracting" to male "concentration." They're "too sensitive" and they "complain about male attention" and shift "blame" when they lose?

Did we just get caught in a time warp? -- so now it's 1953 instead of 2013? That's 60 years ago! (I know that, since I was pretty Good in math, for a girl.)

So, really, come On, all you "grownup" guys, and quit spouting clichèd pre-Middle Ages gender nonsense to young men who're just trying hard to figure out the complexities of the female psyche. Girls are complex enough to deal with without approaching them through prejudiced distorted lenses.

My advice to a smart guy in high school on how to make good connections with girls? Work on really getting to know at least one girl, just as a friend.

When you Listen to a girl talk about her feelings, and ask her honestly for her thoughts, and listen some more, Without judgment, and then ask more questions, and then listen some More, and end up by thanking her for being so open with you, you'll be amazed by all the trust you can earn and all the interesting things you'll end up learning. (If the first girl you try this with isn't responsive, try again with another one, and just keep trying!) Meanwhile, ignore the poor unenlighted, bitter troglodytes ... and good luck! :-)

Thanks! I'd forgotten I'd written that. (2 years ago!) And it does seem like I used to have some pretty good ideas sometimes, even way back then, in the old days, when I was just a young whippersnapper, by cracky. :-)

Finally I was able to look at actual historical data on female participation. I analyzed the gender composition of the Fide standard rating lists from the last 16 years ( these are the publicly available rating lists that can be downloaded from the Fide website ).

While female participation overall has increased in this period this is mostly due to higher participation at very young ages.

If you look at middle age ( 20 - 40 years old ), active players, the participation has declined in the past 16 years.